Questions and Answers for The Seafarer
The Seafarer
How does the alliteration of words begining with w, r, and s affect the sound and meaning of lines 59-62 of "The...
“The Seafarer” is an Old English poem by an anonymous author. Composed sometime in the Anglo-Saxon period or Early Middle Ages, it reflects the poetic style of its day in that it utilizes the sound...
The Seafarer
Identify three lines in the poem "The Seafarer" that show alliteration?
In the poem "The Seafarer," the use of alliteration gives the piece a lyrical and musical sound when read aloud, as was the custom for songs, dramas and poems—before the concept of literature...
The Seafarer
How Does The Speaker In The Seafarer Feel About Life At Sea
In the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Seafarer," the narrator shares the pitiless battering of nature on his person and his difficulty in being separated from the company of other people. Ironically, being...
The Seafarer
Compare and contrast the poems the "Wife's Lament," "The Wanderer," and "The Seafarer."
These three poems are some of the better-known examples of Old English elegiac poetry. The theme of the outcast, someone who is now alone and outcast from his or her society, forms the basis for...
The Seafarer
What are 5 examples of imagery in the first twenty five lines of "The Seafarer?"
The use of imagery within a text allows a reader to create mental images based upon the descriptions offered by the author. Well written imagery appeals to the senses of the reader and offers...
The Seafarer
What makes the poem "The Seafarer" an elegy?
Elegies are poems lamenting the dead or lost things. An elegy can be written about a deceased loved one or about a former way of life. Many Anglo-Saxon poems have at the very least an elegiac...
The Seafarer
What are the earthly pleasures of land that the speaker describes in "The Seafarer"?
"The Seafarer" is an Anglo-Saxon poem in which the speaker, a man of the sea, at first outlines all the reasons why he has to be miserable at sea: it is cold, it is exhausting, and it is isolated....
The Seafarer
I need examples of caesura, kenning, assonance, and alliteration in “The Seafarer.”
The Old English poem “The Seafarer” contains all the delightful features of Old English poetry. Let's examine some of them. Old English poems generally feature long lines of four stresses that are...
The Seafarer
To what does the speaker compare the relationship between man and sea in "The Seafarer"?
The narrator explains the relationship between the man and the sea as the experience of life itself. The sea, like life, is a dangerous and unpredictable place. It is ice-cold, full of storms and...
The Seafarer
In "The Seafarer," the poet names “Fate’s three threats." What are they?
The concept of "Fate" is first introduced when the narrator of "The Seafarer" describes the hardships of sailing, the quiet desire to remain on land—with its comforts and companions—and the call to...
The Seafarer
What Christian element is emphasized in "The Seafarer"?
"The Seafarer" exists as a very early example of Old English poetry. Historically, texts from this period were transmitted through oral tradition, only being written down after centuries. Although...
The Seafarer
In what ways is the seafarer in exile in the Old English poem "The Seafarer"?
"The Seafarer" is an allegorical poem that charts one man's spiritual journey from a life of material ease and luxury to a state of blessed holiness. In this sense, the seafarer is exiled not just...
The Seafarer
In the poem "The Seafarer," how does the alliteration of words beginning with w, r, and s affect the sound and...
Alliteration was one of the key elements used by Old English poets. Unlike many of today's poets, and especially today's students, Old English poets didn't worry too much about end-rhyme. Poets...
The Seafarer
What is your first impression of the speaker in this poem? What is his life like? What does he believe in and hope for?
The poem is divided into three major sections, with the first dealing with the hardships of the seafaring life, the second with more positive aspects of seafaring, and the third with religion. In...
The Seafarer
What does the speaker mean when he speaks lines 58-61 of "The Seafarer"?
"The Seafarer" is an Anglo-Saxon poem which was probably originally sung by scops, like most of the other literature of the period. It has been translated many ways, so an examination of several...
The Seafarer
What passages in the poem "The Seafarer" explain why the seafarer seeks the rigors of the sea rather than the...
The seafarer is definitely bitten by a wanderlust that drives him to set out across the seas. Two passages that show this are the following. First, he writes, And how my heartWould begin to beat,...
The Seafarer
Looking for some quotes on how the themes lonlieness/alienation or exile are conveyed using imagery and symbols in...
In "The Seafarer," loneliness and alienation are themes referred to often by the poem's speaker. The seafarer describes loneliness on the water in the following quote using imagery that describes...
The Seafarer
How does "The Seafarer" reveal the Anglo-Saxon ideal of loyalty and tragedy of separation or exile from...
Both "The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer," both of which are found in the Exeter Book (ca. 725 CE), are dramatic monologues in which the speakers describe their experience of hardship, the loss of...
The Seafarer
In the Old English poem "The Seafarer," what is a person most likely to be remembered for after death: kindness,...
In the Old English poem “The Seafarer,” faith in God is the crucial value, leading not only to good earthly fame after death but also to something much more important: eternal existence in heaven....
The Seafarer
In the Old English poem "The Seafarer," what does the seafarer miss about the days of the past?
"The Seafarer," a poem that speaks to us down the centuries about suffering, loss, and hope for an everlasting life, is found in what is known as the Exeter Book and was most likely composed in the...
The Seafarer
What is the principle mood of "The Seafarer"?
Starting at the beginning of the poem, the seafarer is melancholy to the point of being profoundly depressed. He is depressed because he is stuck in a life on the ocean. He even refers to it as a...
The Seafarer
Some critics consider "The Seafarer" a kind of dialogue or conversation between two opposing attitudes. If the poem...
The poet of “The Seafarer” does indeed present two opposing viewpoints in his poem. However, there is no doubt which view the speaker espouses, since he is speaking in the first-person for much of...
The Seafarer
What contrast is implied in the lines 80-102 of the Seafarer?
To me, the contrast that is implied is a contrast between the old, pagan, heroic values of the days gone by and the new, more Christian and peaceful values that the poet is recommending to people....
The Seafarer
In the poem "The Seafarer," is the speaker fully at home on land, on the sea, or in neither place.
This is a trick question because one could make a "correct" argument for any of the three possibilities. In my opinion, however, the best answer to your question is that the speaker of "The...
The Seafarer
What concept of fame or glory is presented in "The Seafarer?"
The short answer is that the poem presents two contrasting conceptions of glory or fame. One is connected with the heroic values of pre-Christian, Germanic culture, and concerns one's reputation...
The Seafarer
Paraphrase advice the speaker gives in lines 117-122. Where is "our home"?
In the original Anglo-Saxon, the words speak simply of "home," but the context makes it clear that the poet is not referring to one's earthly, physical home. Instead, "home" is the eternal bliss...
The Seafarer
Why did the seafarer keep returning to the sea?
Even though the seafarer spends the first part of the poem explaining how awful, lonely, and cold sea life is, he then says that he keeps going back to it voluntarily. The time for journeys would...
The Seafarer
Where in the poem do you see elements of isolation? Identify at least 3 areas. Why do they seem to convey the idea of...
Loneliness is a key theme in the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Wayfarer". The narrator introduces the idea of his isolation this way: I have spent great careworn wintersan exile on the ice-cold sea,cut...
The Seafarer
In "The Seafarer," why does the seafarer return to the ocean time after time?
"The Seafarer" is an Anglo-Saxon poem about a man who lives his life on the sea, a seafarer. The poem is one hundred and twenty-four lines long, and most of the first half of the work is a...
The Seafarer
What is the speaker's attitude toward life on earth from lines 64-66 in "the Seafarer"?
The protagonist and speaker in "The Seafarer" is a man who exists in a state of suffering. He suffers so much because he is an exile, forced to continually travel the seas in a culture which prized...
The Seafarer
In line 80 of "The Seafarer," the speaker begins to talk about the present state of the world—what does he think of...
The speaker mourns the loss of great leaders and rich empires. He laments the fact that the world is losing its "Golden Age" of heroes. It is the passage from a warrior-based society to a Christian...
The Seafarer
What hardships of the sea does the narrator relate in The Seafarer?
I love this poem! The Seafarer does indeed relay all the hardships in your former answer, but he also relates how he is heartsick when he is not at sea. It is a longing within his breast that he...
The Seafarer
What is the rhythm of "The Seafarer"?
"The Seafarer", like most Anglo-Saxon or Old English poetry (including Beowulf) is written in what is known as strong-stress or alliterative meter. Unlike modern English poetry, in which feet are...
The Seafarer
Where in the poem do you find evidence that the poem is an elegy? Explain why the section you identified is elegiac.
An elegy is, put simply, a poem of mourning, and the poem's first lines immediately begin to identify it as such. The narrator says that he will go on to describe "toilsome times" that forced him...
The Seafarer
What attractive power does the sea have on the seafarer in "The Seafarer"?
At a basic level, the power of the sea is that the seafarer is drawn to it despite the hardships it brings. While in the beginning of the poem the speaker talks of the sea as incredibly harsh and...
The Seafarer
Lines 80 to 102 contrast the dismal present with glorious past. What are the main points of contrast?
In this section of the poem, the speaker aligns himself with other old men who lament the time of great leadership—and great leaders—which is now gone, never to return. The speaker declares that...
The Seafarer
Do you agree that fate is stronger than any man's mind?
In "The Seafarer," I do not get the sense that fate drives the seaman as much as the call of his heart and his mind, so I would suggest that his heart and mind are stronger than fate. If one is...
The Seafarer
In lines 55–56 of “The Seafarer,” the speaker says, “Who could understand, / In ignorant ease, what we others...
The anonymous speaker of the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Seafarer" laments, in the lines you mention, that no one who lives on the land could ever understand the hardships a seafarer must endure. The...
The Seafarer
According to the speaker in the poem "The Seafarer," what qualities might earn a person a place in heaven?
The speaker catalogues the qualities that might earn a person a place in heaven at the end of the poem, in lines 108-116. He highlights the virtues of humility, courage, faith, chastity and love,...
The Seafarer
Do you agree that "Fate is stronger/... Than any man's mind"? Why or why not?
Ultimately, the answer to this question outside of the context of this poem is for each individual to decide; within the context of the poem, however, the answer to the question is relatively...
The Seafarer
What is heroic about the Seafarer?
This an interesting question, because the poem alludes to two different cultural conceptions of heroism -- the early, pre-Christian, Germanic conception, and the Christian one. The seafarer himself...
The Seafarer
What images are related to weather in the first stanza of "The Seafarer"?
In this poem, the speaker (Seafarer) discusses how harsh his life at sea has been. He makes particular notes about the cold weather especially in comparison with the cold, isolated feeling of...
The Seafarer
In line 80 of "The Seafarer" the speaker begins to talk about the present state of the world. What does he think of...
The Old English Anglo-Saxon poem “The Seafarer” is thematically divided into three sections. In the first section the speaker describes his travels on the cold and dangerous sea, creating a...
The Seafarer
What views does the speaker of "The Seafarer" express about earthly life and God?
The speaker of "The Seafarer" expresses profound skepticism over the value of earthly goods. Ultimately, when it comes to what really matters—achieving salvation—they are worse than useless. He...
The Seafarer
How could the paradox expressed in the first part of the poem "The Seafarer" be articulated and explained?
This paradox is central to the entire poem. It may be summed up this way: 1. Seafaring is dangerous, lonely, and objectively miserable. It offers no rewards or "earthly pleasures." A normal...
The Seafarer
In "The Seafarer", what does the speaker say is different about life in his time as compared with life in the past?
The seafarer presents us with a picture of life upon Earth as fallen. In this he's developing the age-old Christian theme of the Fall, that humankind has occupied a state of sin ever since Adam and...
The Seafarer
Comment on the religious themes in "The Wanderer," "The Seafarer," and "The Dream of the Rood."
The Old English poems “The Wanderer,” “The Seafarer,” and “Dream of the Rood” all contain strong religious themes, but they express these themes in different ways. The most overtly religious of the...
The Seafarer
How would you write a compare and contrast essay on "The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer"?
Hi there- I think you will find it helpful to visit our How to Write a Compare and Contrast Essay page. There are other topics on our "how to" pages you might find helpful as well, including:...
The Seafarer
In "The Seafarer," what happens to “fools who forget their God," and what happens to those who “live humble”?
"We all fear God. He turns the earth, he set it swinging firmly in space, Gave life to the world and light to the sky. Death leaps at the fools who forget their God. He who lives humbly...
The Seafarer
How do both pagan and Christian ideas coexist in The Seafarer?
In "The Seafarer," the speaker talks about the realities of life as a seafarer on the ocean and the excitement, danger, beauty, and suffering that accompanies such a life. Within this description...
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